FEMA didn’t award contracts on merit, report says
The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have violated federal law by trying to distribute contract dollars equally among three firms, rather than selecting the most qualified candidate, according...
View ArticlePentagon contracting policy faulted in two reports
Defense Department contractors in war zones wasted more than $30 billion during the past decade through poor planning and management, the chairs of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and...
View ArticleAgencies can improve suspension and debarment process, says GAO
Too many federal agencies are insufficiently protecting against contractor fraud or incompetence by using the suspension and debarment process, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday....
View ArticleRep. Lankford says training will ease acquisition workforce transition
The federal acquisition workforce is getting younger and less experienced, and that worries Congressman James Lankford (R-Okla.). The chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on...
View ArticleLawmakers, OMB push to ban more ‘bad-actor’ contractors
Procedures for disqualifying dishonest or incompetent federal contractors are too rarely exploited, according to a consensus of several senators, the White House and cross-agency watchdogs. But there...
View ArticleFEMA official gets two years’ probation for revolving-door relationship with...
Private industry frequently considers hiring existing and former federal government employees for their experience, knowledge base and skill set. As a reaction to the continuing perception that...
View ArticleFEMA raises ‘small’ threshold for public assistance grants
The dollar threshold for a disaster recovery project considered “small” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has gone up by more than half, to $120,000. Small construction projects that...
View ArticleContractor suspensions and debarments doubled over the last 4 years
The number of contractor suspensions and debarments government-wide have doubled since fiscal 2009 because agencies have developed better management tools and a more active referral process, a May 21...
View ArticleGovernment’s biggest failures: 2001-2014
With scandals at agencies ranging from the IRS to the Veterans Affairs Department fresh in the public’s mind, a longtime scholar of federal management has published a new assessment of government’s...
View ArticleFEMA’s 50% rule costing gov’t hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments
Hundreds of millions of dollars were lost due to a misinterpretation of a Federal Emergency Management Agency rule that funds the replacement or repair of facilities after a natural disaster, according...
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Government ends oversight of Gallup
Federal government oversight of The Gallup Organization, put in place as the consulting and polling company looked to settle allegations that it conducted business unethically, has ended early after a...
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Homeland Security accepting video proposals
Doing business with the Homeland Security Department could mean getting the cameras rolling. DHS will be accepting video proposals besides written ones as part of a procurement innovation initiative,...
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Engineer takes on emergency management projects
It’s not often you hear someone say, “I have a passion for deploying on emergency management debris missions.” Meet Chad Braun. In addition to working as a senior project engineer and civil engineer...
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Federal probe into Puerto Rico power scandal expands
A second federal contract with a company hired to rebuild Puerto Rico’s all but collapsed power grid is coming under scrutiny, drawing the attention of federal investigators and even members of...
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Top FEMA official: Hit the ‘reset button’ on disaster recovery roles
State and local governments should own the disaster recovery process by creating integrated, outcome-based mitigation plans like Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria, the Federal Emergency Management...
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GAO says FEMA needs to use and manage advance contracts more effectively
Following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Congress required FEMA to establish contracts for goods and services in advance to enable quick and effective mobilization of resources in the aftermath of a...
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FEMA showed weak mastery of contracts during hurricane response and recovery
Four agencies providing disaster relief following the triple hurricanes and California wildfires of 2017 failed to keep proper records of contracts with suppliers, rendering it impractical for the...
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FEMA officials charged with bribery over Puerto Rico power contracts
A 15-count federal indictment accuses two former FEMA officials and a contractor with bribery, fraud and other offenses related to disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in...
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After 2 years in limbo, FEMA cancels $250 million IT support contract
The single-award contract was created to help the emergency management agency manage its IT. Now, that work will be spread across existing staff and contracts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency...
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Emergency acquisitions group at center of GSA’s coronavirus response
For the General Services Administration, the surge in contracting to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and now the fourth stimulus bill is business as usual. Even with the activation of its emergency...
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